FACT CHECK: Were Marines unarmed?

Sep. 17, 2012

Written by

Jeffrey Bruner

Gannett

Question: Were the Marines at American embassies in the Middle East not allowed to be armed?

Answer: Bloggers and users on Twitter and Facebook were quick to circulate claims that the Marines in Cairo, Egypt, and Benghazi, Libya, were not permitted to be armed. The story went that the U.S. ambassador to Egypt told the Marines they couldn’t use their weapons.

It turns out the Marines in Cairo were armed. Both Mother Jones magazine and Fox News — two news sources at opposite ends of the political spectrum — talked to Marines spokesmen who confirmed there were no restrictions on weapons or weapons status.

In Libya, the consulate in Benghazi did not have Marines stationed there — the security was supposed to be provided by the Libyans.

Finally, it’s something of a misnomer that the primary mission of the Marines is to protect the embassy. That’s the responsibility of the host country. In the event of a crisis, the Marines will certainly do their best, but their main mission is “to provide internal security at designated U.S. diplomatic and consular facilities in order to prevent the compromise of classified material vital to the national security of the United States,” according to the Marines Corps Embassy Security Group.

Jeffrey Bruner is the wire chief for the Gannett National Wire Desk in Des Moines.